Fracture Pattern
by Bee.Eh.Vee
Summary: The past and present collide in this follow-up to Brothers in Arms. Callen and Deeks have returned from Mexico only to be thrown back into the aliases that sent them there...but something else is brewing. This separated team has a fight on their hands. Summary of Brothers in Arms included.
1. Chapter 1

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N: **This is the follow-up to Brothers in Arms. It does follow after the previous story, so unfortunately if you haven't read the other one there will be some confusion. I'll give a quick but vague summary of it at the end of this chapter, so if you want to read it without ruining it, don't read past the end!

* * *

**Prologue**

Deeks and Callen's eyes followed the ball, which was tough considering the multitude of feet that was surrounding it. Their sunglasses hid the crinkling at the edges of their eyes but could do nothing for the upturned corners of their mouths.

Deeks took a swig out of the travel mug Callen had handed him after they settled into their chairs. The slight smile turned into a slight frown and he spun the top off and took a sniff. He looked over and, with some concern, said "There's something in my Coke."

Callen smirked but kept his eyes on the mass of humanity following the ball. "Yep, mine too."

Curious, Deeks took another drink and swished it around in his mouth. "Is that...Rye?" His voice dropped on the last word, not wanting the people around him to hear.

"Yep." Eyebrows made an appearance above the frames of the glasses as Callen kept his giggles in.

With completely faux seriousness, Deeks shook his head. "Really, an officer of the law concealing alcohol in a public space. I could throw you in jail. Still have my credentials."

This earned him a turn of Callen's head and a toothy smirk. "I find a bit of Crown makes these games more interesting. Now shut up and drink. I haven't had a break yet."

Deeks nodded his agreement and settled back into his chair. He spun the top back on his mug and sipped away. Neither was sure how they had ended up here, but if they had to be roped in, they might as well enjoy it.

Who were they trying to kid? The roping was good and tight and not letting up anytime soon. This was the newest in a series of attempts to fight back, no matter how little or unnoticed, against the bonds their team had imposed on them after they were released from Hetty's medical lock-up.

Deeks sighed as he stretched his neck, this game was entirely too one-sided and he was getting a crick. "I haven't had a night to myself for two weeks. I finally went surfing last weekend but Eric tagged along and I'm pretty sure he was texting quarter-hour updates. And now this, we've spent Saturday and Sunday watching Sam's daughter play in her soccer tournament because 'Sam needs the support as he's coaching'." Deeks hooked his fingers and rolled his eyes.

"Don't have to tell me. I spent last weekend and most of the evenings sanding and staining Sam's deck." Callen dragged a hand down his face. "Then Nell suddenly needed help moving her furniture."

Tensing up, Deeks asked, "When was that?"

"Uh...Monday? No, it was Tuesday. On Monday Eric nagged me into helping him pull wires for his new computer system."

"Seriously? I helped Nell move furniture on Monday. She probably got me to move it and then you to move it back." He pouted, "We've been duped."

"That night out to celebrate the case we solved in a matter of hours? Set up because they were running out of ideas." Callen rolled his shoulders and eyed Sam from behind his glasses. "At least Sam's team is winning."

"Have you noticed he keeps looking over here like he expects us to disappear into the mist?" Deeks glared at Sam from behind his sunglasses; it was the only time it was safe for him to send that kind of look at the former SEAL. "Want to mess with him?"

"What do have in mind?"

"After he looks, let's switch chairs."

Callen smiled, "Wait, he's looking now, look bored." They paused and Sam looked back to the game. "Now!" Deeks hopped up and spun past Callen as he lifted himself from one chair to the other. Deeks plopped down just in time for Sam's head to spin again. Sam's eyes narrowed and he made a move to head in their direction, but realized what had happened before he committed and scowled instead.

Callen and Deeks high-fived.

Sooner (hopefully) or later the other team members would ease back on their constant surveillance and things would go back to normal, or the new normal where Deeks and Callen had strange in-jokes and occasionally burst into Spanish songs. Just to keep their partners on their toes.

But the danger of normality is those who thrive on destroying it.

* * *

_3 weeks later_

"Put the gun down." The half-bitten off words slipped out of Callen's tight jaw. His eyes skipped over the situation, trying to halt the disaster before it became even worse.

A cackle came from in front of his gun. "I'd being doing us a favour. Heck, the attorney's office would probably give me a medal."

"Deeks, this isn't the way to deal with this."

The detective shifted his head slightly, catching Callen in his peripheral vision but leaving his focus on the man with his hands up. "Why not? It would solve a lot of problems."

The man holding his hands up shifted to his left but stopped moving when Deeks' glare hardened and he cocked his gun.

"Don't make me shoot you." Callen hated that he was pointing his gun at his friend, but it was the way it had to be.

* * *

**A/N:** In protest that NCIS:LA has gone off the air for the summer, I'll (try really hard to) post on Tuesdays.

**Summary for Brothers in Arms:  
**Callen and Deeks are put undercover as arms-dealing brothers (Mikhail Savic and Jasha Savic/Jake Smit respectively) that were created by Eric and Nell for a cyber-sting that has moved into the real world. Naturally it doesn't go smoothly and what should have been a simple bait-and-trap operation turns into something more dangerous. The chase to capture a group of Colombian guerrilla fighters, an assassin, and Deeks' sanity takes them through LA, Colombia, and finally Mexico where a long walk in a big desert finally delivers justice.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters  
**A/N: **Thanks to knirbenrots, shestarsky, and guest m for dropping reviews on the last chapter!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The bullpen was quiet; it was a slow day for crime and all four were trying to catch up on other open cases that had been pushed aside for...other reasons. Callen and Deeks had essentially been chained to their desks following their return from their stay at the clinic. Apparently leaving a path of destruction through the Americas causes a lot of paperwork. Even when that was done, Hetty found more reasons to keep them there. They also had to finish their partners' paperwork for the cases Sam and Kensi worked while Callen and Deeks were gone. Fun.

_This feels like detention._

Deeks opened the text from Callen and smirked. He tapped out a response. _You spend as much time there as I did?_

_Maybe_.

"You missed a spot." Kensi pointed at the trophy Sam just finished polishing and set on the corner of his desk.

"Where?!" Sam snatched up the 'Champion – Coach' statue and spun it in his hand before placing it back when Kensi started laughing. "Don't you have something to do?"

"Nope, turns out Deeks is useful for something, my in box is empty." She rewarded Deeks with a smile. That was promising, she was thawing.

"G, why are there still papers in mine?" At Callen's shrug he leafed through them. "Hey! These are Kensi's forms!"

Kensi caught Deeks' wink and smiled sweetly. "Don't care, they're not on my desk."

Sam grumbled as he dug through the pile and separated them into his responsibility and not his responsibility.

Hetty chose this moment to make her appearance. "Someone needs to visit the office from Jake Smit. There has been some more interest and we need to know if it has been accessed by anyone else."

Deeks shot out of his seat. "I'm on it."

"Sit down. You have forms to fill out." Sam growled.

The pout combined with sad eyes had no affect on Sam but got a giggle from Kensi. Callen stood and stretched. "I'll go. It'll be good for me to see the inside of the place. I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

"Are you done for the day?" Kensi asked her partner who was diligently filling out forms under Sam's watchful eye. "I'll give you a ride home."

Deeks wanted to sigh – he was being babysat again. He wanted to ask why Callen had gotten away today, but he held it in. Kensi hadn't said a word about his side trip and hadn't tried to visit them when Hetty had them under lockdown. He was sure she was trying to pretend it never happened. His gaze slid over to his gatekeeper Sam who reluctantly nodded his approval for Deeks release. He piled up his work and grabbed his bag, ready to trade one prison for another. At least there was a change of scenery.

The walked out to the parking lot in silence and it stayed that way until Kensi made a different turn. Deeks questioned her about where they were going but got an answer when she pulled into a parking lot beside the ocean. She grabbed a six pack from the back seat and led him out to where the crashing surf would cover any conversation they would have. She plopped down on a rock and Deeks followed suit. They drank the first half of their bottles watching the waves.

"Why'd you do it?"

The quiet question out of Kensi packed a hard punch into Deeks chest. Somehow he knew this day would come, but still he was unprepared. He wanted to give her an answer, but he still wasn't sure himself. He spun the bottle in his hand and thought about it; he owed her a real answer, not some clichéd schtick like 'I had to' or 'it was for the best'.

"I lost a piece of myself and I had to get it back." Deeks controlled the shock that rippled through his body at the words that flew out of his mouth. That was it; he had been struggling to form that answer for weeks. Nate had skyped with him and gotten him nowhere. The after-action forms had brought him no closer. A debrief with Hetty hadn't delivered any insight. However, sitting beside his partner and digging his toes into the sand had brought forth the truth with one question.

Kensi nodded, lips pursed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Deeks dropped his head and heaved a sigh. He raised his head and looked at his partner, a mix of conviction and uncertainty roiling in his eyes. "Look at me." Kensi turned her head and looked at him, curious about what was going through his mind. "Kens, I don't know." He pressed his lips together and squeezed his eyes shut. "It wasn't to protect you or because I thought you couldn't handle it. There was a lot going on then and all I know is that it was the right decision."

* * *

Kensi took a moment to let that sink in. She half-expected Deeks to blow off this entire conversation or try to avoid it at all costs. The fact that she got an answer to one of her questions was more than she thought she would get. Nate had warned after his talk with him that it was going to take a while for him to get back to normal. At first she didn't believe Nate because Deeks was as much of a goof when he came back as when he left. But then she noticed something would flit through his eyes or he would press his hand against his leg and wince. '_He needs time to come to terms with it_' Nate had cautioned.

She was determined to do everything she could to get him to a good place. She realized when he was gone how happy she was when he was there; his jokes and take on life was a needed lift for the whole team, Eric, Nell, and Hetty included. She was still angry at what they did, but she was trying to look past the actions to see the person in front of her.

"Let me know when you do." She ended with a nod of finality. The relief that crept up his face reassured her that this was the right thing. She lifted the bottle and drained the last bit.

They sat there until the wind gained a cold edge and then Kensi dropped Deeks off at his apartment and she carried on to hers. Progress was slow, but it was still being made.

* * *

Callen found the right key and slid it into the lock. It turned with a cold click and he pushed through the darkened doorway. He passed through the waiting area in the dark and aimed for the door he saw with the brief light from the hallway. It also quietly opened for him. He used the lights from the window to do an initial scan of the room before switching on the desk lamp to do a more thorough check. He found nothing out of place or strange so he reversed his course back out to the hallway. He was turning the first corner when everything went sideways, literally.

He felt himself falling against the wall, but could do nothing to stop it. His last thought before everything went dark was that Hetty was going to kill him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N I:** Proof this Callen/Deeks buddy thing is completely plausible and not at all only in my head: About four minutes into 'Harm's Way' (Season 2 Episode 18) Callen gives Deeks props for screwing with Sam. Vindicated! ...What? It's summer hiatus and I broke out the seasons on DVD.  
**A/N II:** Thanks for the reviews, Shaz1, knirbenrots, shestarsky, rebecca taylor, ncisloverinnc, jammer, guest m, and Sweet Lu!

* * *

**Chapter 2  
**

Kensi and Deeks dropped their bags on their chairs. Kensi had picked Deeks up and he had surprised her with a box of donuts. The sugar had them bantering back and forth but it was ended abruptly when Sam burst out from behind a wall with a wild look in his eyes.

"You see G?" Sam asked, slightly breathless.

"What, you send him home on his own finally and you think the boogeyman got him?" That comment from Deeks earned him two glares but he chortled into his next donut.

"He hasn't come in yet." Sam groused.

"He's probably just messing with you." Kensi sighed.

Sam set his heat-glare on Deeks. "He wouldn't have tried to pull a stunt like this before your detour." He huffed and crossed his arms. "You're a bad influence on my partner."

Deeks shoved the rest of the donut into his mouth and smiled, showing off the pastry clenched in his teeth. "Aye haff gnoo eyedea wagh uur talghingh eyebough."

"You do to know what I'm talking about."

"Stop encouraging him." Kensi sighed as she planted herself in her chair. "The best way to get him to stop is to ignore the behavior." That earned her a donut-y smile as well.

Deeks chewed and swallowed the rest of the donut and washed it down by loudly slurping his coffee. Sam straightened his back and pointedly stared down at his computer. A whistle from above broke all their concentration and they looked up in unison to see Eric bouncing up and down.

"Trouble."

* * *

_Last Night_

Callen took one look at the tractor trailer in front of him and grimaced. These guys were smart; the movement of the truck would confuse a trace and make them that much harder to find. He kept his head down and lolling with the movement of the two men carrying him. The dose of sedative had been too low for his size and one really big bump near the end of the trip had brought him back to consciousness. He assumed they were planning to get Deeks instead of him and filled the syringe accordingly. His feet bounced up the ramp to the back of the trailer. It was a long trailer and they carried him to the back. He pressed his luck by carefully opening one eye as they flung him onto a chair. He stayed loose as his hands were fastened to either side of the chair. Smart, he couldn't work restraints off if his hands weren't together.

He slammed his eyes shut as his chin was lifted. The smack on the side of his face drew a reaction but he kept his eyes shut. The second one convinced him to slide open one eye. The old school hockey goalie mask staring back at him cackled and one more smack from it opened up his other eye. The hand holding his chin squeezed and the mask spoke.

"I've heard you're a hard person to get a hold of. The Savićs are crafty bunch, but I caught one."

Callen dropped his jaw and slid it to the side in an attempt to ease the burning from the smacks. "You people realize you can just talk to us; it's not necessary to kidnap us. It makes for business partnerships that start on the wrong foot."

"I don't trust anyone born outside of the US of A, especially not a ruskie."

"I'm not Russian."

"Whatever, you're not American. I was planning on picking up the other one, but this'll work too. Sit tight, I'll be back later." The masked man gave a sarcastic salute and left.

This gave Callen his first opportunity to take a look at his surroundings. They had built a tiny room at the very front of the trailer. Based on the size it was only part of the width; the rest must have been taken up by the viewing room on the other side of the mirrored glass panel on the wall. It was crude, but effective. Thinking it would be a bad idea to practice his Russian dialects while waiting, he started conjugating Spanish verbs.

* * *

_Present_

"There's been activity on the Savic case. I pulled the surveillance footage from the office. They clearly knew where the cameras where in the building, but they missed the ones we installed." Eric ran through what he knew quickly.

Nell picked up the briefing. "Callen was captured coming out of the office last night." She paused to let that sink in. "But thanks to facial recognition, we know who it was."

"Latino? Arab? Eastern European?" Sam filled the space formed by Nell taking a breath with his guesses.

"No. American."

"What?" Kensi half-shouted, incredulous. "As in the USA American?"

"Yep. We dug all night and found them."

"You knew this happened last night and didn't tell us?" Deeks gripped the table, trying to latch onto something stable.

Hetty stepped forward. "It was my call. You could not do anything without information and we, and Callen, would need you ready to go once we had the data. No sense all of us worrying." Three very unhappy agents growled and mumbled, but she held up her hand. "You know that I am right. Allow Miss Jones to tell you what we confirmed only minutes ago."

"They are members of the Protect and React Organization. They're known as the PRO American movement. Their goal is much like that of the terrorist groups of the Middle East, they plan and execute attacks on softer targets in the less-American-friendly countries. Countries where the jihadists are recruited and trained, staging areas for attacks, and where the government is in support of these movements. Several attacks have been directly linked to them as well as some that they have helped with. They never attack within the States, but there are rumours that some people have been murdered by their hand while they were visiting our allies."

Sam crossed his arms, but gave an apologetic half smile to Nell. "We know the who, but what's their angle?"

Eric stepped up again. "We decided that since there's been activity with the Savics, the office and the phone Callen was carrying, we think they want to do an arms deal."

Five sets of eyes turned towards Deeks who had gone a few shades whiter. His gaze bounced from one object to another and never stayed still for long. His jaw worked back and forth while he tried to come up with something to say. He looked as though he was about to bolt when the phone rang.

Nell checked the incoming call. "It's coming from Mikhail's phone, redirected here from dialing Jake Smit. Deeks, Callen's calling you."

"Mr. Beale, start a trace." Hetty pulled the focus off the slightly hyperventilating detective who was pulling himself together.

Deeks stalked up to the speaker sitting in the middle of the table and nodded at Nell who answered the call. Static crackled over the line, Deeks swallowed, smirked and said "you fall into a pit of despair again?" This got him some strange looks, but Hetty just smiled.

* * *

Callen rolled his eyes, but hockey mask tensed, obviously not expecting the sarcasm that seeped through the line. Hockey mask waved at Callen to respond with the first line written on the piece of paper he was holding up. "We have a new client."

"Add 'em to the pile." Deeks' flippant remark annoyed Callen's captor and he whispered Callen's response.

"They go to the top of the pile." Callen parroted it back to Deeks.

"Drop off the details at the office and I'll work on it when I get there."

Callen scanned through the approved statements and picked one that worked, "I'm out of town. I'll email them." Callen figured that they already knew he'd been kidnapped and were working to find him, but faced with the fact that the truck was clearly on the move left him with little hope.

"Get back into town, you know we don't do these things without talking face-to-face at least once."

"Jake..." Callen drew out the name into a sigh. The eyes behind the hockey mask tightened, but he let it go.

"Fine. But the next time you try and give me trouble for something I'm bringing this up." Deeks was clearly trying to keep the conversation going, but based on the demeanor of hockey mask, Callen had just enough time for one more sentence.

"Hey, in the end, y'either gotta live free or die hard, right?" A hissing laughter accompanied the last word but was quickly ended by a horrifying crunch that bounced around the room. Callen had paid dearly for going off script, but it had to be done.

* * *

Silence hung thick in the Ops room following the whine of the dial tone signalling the end of the call. Eric and Nell's attempts to track the call had been foiled, and their shoulders sagged with the defeat.

Sam stood stoic, his hands gripping the table, replaying the sound of the hit in his mind, desperately trying to process the noise.

Kensi paced at the back of the room, with arms crossed, deciding which piece of gym equipment would face her wrath first.

Hetty was perfectly still, mouth slightly pursed, millions of scenarios running through her mind.

But Deeks, his face was in motion, mouthing the last sentence Callen had said over and over. It was a clue for him, he knew, but he had to figure it out. Figure it out fast. Faster and faster he repeated the words, bouncing his fingers on his pant legs. He started with the most recent and worked backwards.

Then it hit him.

The trip back from Juarez, in the Gremlin, just past the border. They were talking about...

"The end of Live Free or Die Hard!" The words burst out of him like a volcano, as if the sheer effort to hold them in would have exploded his chest.

Kensi stopped her pacing to look at her partner. "No, he said 'in the end, you either have to live free or die hard'."

"No, no, no, no, no, he _means_ the end of Live Free or Die Hard." His words died out as he retreated back into his head, his eyes racing back and forth as he worked it out.

Strutting over to her partner, Kensi planted herself in front of him and stared at his face. There was something there that they needed. "Deeks, spit it out, what does the end of live free or die hard have to do with anything, what part is the end?"

Deeks grabbed Kensi's arms and grinned, "Not live free or die hard, Live Free or Die Hard with capitals. It's a movie with Bruce Willis." He let go of Kensi and raced over to Eric and Nell. "You said there was something weird with the trace, what exactly was weird?"

They exchanged glances and Eric nodded at Nell, who answered the question. "Well, it seemed as if trace skipped from one tower to another, which can be caused by software designed to confuse a trace."

"What if the phone was in motion?"

Eric answered that one, slowly, "That would do it too, but aren't they holding him?"

Deeks smiled, triumphant. "Yep, they're holding him in the back of a semi." He planted his hands on his hips.

Kensi edged over to her partner and wrinkled her nose. "How do you know this?"

"Live Free or Die Hard, the bad guys have their base of operations in a trailer that is being pulled around by a truck. Staying in motion makes it harder for the cops to find them and makes for a pretty epic chase scene."

Eric caught on, "I remember that. It could work, and I might be able to trace them if I..." The rest of his words were lost as he buried his head in his keyboard. Nell went digging into their transactions, looking for a purchase that might lead them to the truck.

Not entirely convinced, Sam spoke up, "And how did you get to this conclusion from a messy sentence?"

For the first time, Deeks seemed unsure, but not of his conclusion. "Callen and I were talking about it on the ride home from..." he pointed in the general direction of south-east. "He mentioned loving the Die Hard series, and I had never seen them so we watched four of the five of them two weekends ago. Quite the movie marathon." He dropped his head and peeked up at Sam whose face was stony, and then softened.

"I tend to not enjoy Callen's movie days. My butt falls asleep." Sam smiled softly, "You sure about this?"

Deeks pressed his lips together and nodded. "I'm sure."

"Then let's find that tractor trailer." Hetty pronounced and then silently slipped out of the room.

"Wait..." Deeks' face screwed up in puzzlement. Sam's arms tightened up, sure that Deeks was going to say he wasn't as sure as he thought he was. "These guys are home-grown terrorists that are all for a great and powerful America. That's the same as the movie. What is this, a complete rip-off of the plot? Is there going to be some Asian hit-woman kicking our collective asses before the week is out?"

Eric's head popped up. "Nuh-uh. These ones are going old school, with guns and bombs, not computers and tech."

"And I've confirmed they are all very Caucasian." Nell added.

Deeks blew out a breath. "Phew, I'm glad they're not trying to remake a movie they once saw because the good guys totally win in it."

Sam dropped a hand on Deeks' shoulder. "The good guys are going to win this one too."


	4. Chapter 4

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N:** Thanks to Sweet Lu, ncisloverinnc, shestarsky, knirbenrots, jimmer, SwanQueen4055, and I Feel Possessed for dropping reviews, always appreciated!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Eric and Nell rolled up to their computers and started attacking their keyboards. Eric fixated on an area based on the cell towers and gathered surveillance footage to look for a transport truck. Nell began a search into the financials trying to find whether the truck was rented or bought.

"Any luck on your side?" Eric asked as finished finding all possible trucks from the street cameras.

"Maybe...it might be easier if we work off the trucks you have and compare it to what I have." Nell leaned over to look at Eric's tally. "Forty-three trucks, that's not a bad list. Better than the thousands roaming Los Angeles right now."

"I'll pull the plates off of each one and you can start hunting them down." Eric focussed on one of the pictures and began to enhance and zoom.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the armory, Sam, Kensi, and Deeks were trying to put together a plan to attack a moving truck.

"Construction?" Kensi started the discussion.

Sam nodded. "Probably our best bet. We may have to watch out for the driver though, we'll have to either do it without him knowing or cut off his communication."

"I'd go with him not knowing. That way he can carry on like nothing's changed." Deeks scratched his beard. "It'll be tricky. We should get a car in behind the truck."

"Then use it as a staging area for the attack. I'm thinking we gas the trailer, go in, and pull Callen out. It'd be the quickest way to do it especially since we don't know how many people there are in there."

"Where are we going to do this?" Kensi asked, already thinking that their plan was a good one.

"Depends on Eric and Nell finding the truck. Let's head back to our desks, it could take them awhile to find it." Sam jerked his head in the general direction.

* * *

It was late in the day when Eric and Nell came charging down the steps.

"We have two updates: the truck and the guns. Which do you want first?" The words rushed out of Nell's mouth.

"Guns." Deeks bit out.

"Wait..." Eric held a hand up. "We should tell you, I wanted to tell you what happened the moment I noticed the take-down at the office." Eric bit his lip, "Hetty had me watching." He took a breath and kept going. "But she was right, we had no information and he was already gone and all you would have done was worried. I...I hope you don't..."

"Eric, we get it. It's not how we would want it, but Hetty was right. There was nothing we could do then, but there's lots we can do now. Nell?" Kensi spoke for the trio.

"We have the order from the PRO Americans. How do we set up the shipment?" Nell held up her tablet with the information.

Deeks stepped forward. "The system is the guns go first with the firing pins removed. The firing pins follow in a separate shipment. The ammunition is a different deal."

Sam scrunched his nose. "Why that way?"

"The guns are useless without the firing pins. Receiving the first shipment unchallenged relaxes the targets. Separating the shipments allows us to 'catch' them at different stages and protect our covers."

Sam uncrossed one arm and gestured towards Deeks. "You and G come up with this?"

Deeks shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Yeah."

Sam pressed his lips together and nodded.

Kensi glanced between the two and then looked up at Eric. "And the truck?"

Eric jumped in to pass on their findings. "We found the truck. It's been identified as a long term rental. We believe one of their members, who is listed as an independent short-term hauler is driving the truck. We've had Kaleidoscope looking for it for a couple of hours but no luck yet. If it's out on the road at any point overnight we'll have it in the morning." Eric and Nell headed back upstairs, their briefing complete.

"Mr. Deeks, a moment?" Hetty silently slipped beside his desk and nodded her head in the direction of her office. He stood and followed her. Sam watched as they walked over and Hetty motioned for him to sit. She leaned against her desk and handed him a file. He opened it and all the blood in his face drained out. Sam frowned as Deeks shook his head and shrugged, almost helplessly. Hetty took the file from him and said a few words. She handed him a set of keys and a phone and patted his hand. Deeks tried to smile, but there was none of his usual humour behind it. He stood, nodded, and then almost ran out the door while Hetty watched. Sam tried to bury himself back in his desk, but Hetty looked straight at him. She drew a breath and blew it back out, tapped her palms once against the desk and then walked over to their desks. Sam caught Kensi's eye and glanced in Hetty's direction. She'd seen what she could from her angle so she stopped what she was doing and waited for Hetty.

"Mr. Deeks will not be continuing with us for the duration of this case." She held up her hands to stop any comments and said "follow me." She led the way up to the Ops centre and signalled Eric.

"This is Matthew Deckson. He and Mr. Deeks went through Law College together. Even passed the Bar together. As you can gather from their names, alphabetically they were placed near each other. They became friends and even their yearbook references the 'Marty & Matt Show'. They came from opposite backgrounds, Matthew grew up on what you could call the 'right side of the tracks' and was from a privileged family. I understand he was the third-generation to attend. Despite the differences in their lives and situations, they were close. Unfortunately their paths continued to differ following school.

"Our Deeks soon became a cop and did a series of undercover operations and put many criminals behind bars before coming here. Mr. Deckson, on the other hand, became a defense lawyer, keeping just as many of those criminals out on the street. It is obvious that their friendship has fallen apart."

Kensi, who was cross-armed and curious, slipped in the question on both their minds. "This doesn't explain why he's off the case."

"Yes, Miss Blye, it does. The people who Mr. Deckson has kept out of jail were only in that situation due to the efforts of undercover operatives like Mr. Deeks. He knows the real names and how to contact these men and women. If Deckson was to find Deeks, he would pass the information on to his clients who would stop at nothing to get these names."

Sam frowned, "They were friends, why would this Deckson do that?"

"Why? Why not, he's tried before." Hetty sighed. "The safest place for him is far away from this case. We have his notes and cases."

"But Callen's in trouble." Kensi eyed their boss. "He shouldn't leave when one of us in this kind of trouble."

"Who said he wanted to leave?" Hetty raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure he has already ignored my directives. Eric, is his car directed towards the safe house?" Eric tapped on his keyboard and shook his head. "What about the phone, is it turned on?" Another shake of the head. "As I suspected." She sighed, "Keep your eyes open for him. I fear that in my attempt to get him away from this case he now has jumped into the middle of it."


	5. Chapter 5

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N I:** Just so you've been warned, from now on there's going to be a fair amount of time-jumping.  
**A/N II:** Thanks for the reviews (shestarsky, knirbenrots, Sweet Lu, jimmer, SwanQueen4055, and jmlane1966) as they put a smile on my face!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

_A different time, back in Law School_

"Marty, what is going on with you?" Matt dropped down on the grass beside his buddy who was napping on the gentle slope.

"Nuthin'." He mumbled while adjusting the hat he'd pulled over his face to block the sun.

"You missed a golden opportunity to put Sal in his place. He lobbed it right across the plate and you didn't even swing! Even he noticed you were acting weird; he actually asked me if you were sick." Matt pushed at Marty's shoulder but he just made a noncommittal sound. "And what's with you wearing a hat? We could barely see your face..." He made a grab for the hat and in Marty's sleepy state he wasn't fast enough to stop him.

The green that started at the bottom of Marty's cheekbone turned a gaudy shade of purple under his eye. Matt could see that the bruise extended above his eye but the shaggy bangs covered what could be a nasty cut. Matt got in his face and glared at him "Spill."

Marty made a face and tried to roll away, but Matt grabbed his shoulder, which caused a gasp and grimace. Matt's face twisted into a growl and Marty gave in. "I got kicked out of my apartment."

"Literally?"

Marty reached up to gently touch his cheek. "No...I missed my rent by a couple days again and the landlord pitched my stuff out the window. Thankfully the old lady in 102 is storing it for me. I was on my way to find a new place, but there was this girl and this gang and..." He trailed off and stared at the ground.

"And you couldn't walk away." Matt sighed. "I get that you have this deep-seated obsession with helping people, but how are you going to be a lawyer if you're constantly breaking up fights?" Marty's mouth twitched but he didn't say anything. "That's it. You're moving in with me."

Marty's head snapped to face Matt's. "I can't move into the frat house, I didn't pledge."

Matt waved his hand. "Everybody there likes you and my family practically paid for the place. We have an empty bedroom and we'll take a vote tonight." He launched himself off the ground and ran off.

Marty watched him go and shook his head. He slowly pushed himself off the ground and headed for the bus. The lady in 102 was nice, but he wouldn't put it past her to sell his stuff if he didn't pick it up before the end of the day.

* * *

Matt found him tucked into his cubicle in the library. Marty had collected all his belongings and they sat by his feet in two cardboard boxes. Balancing them while walking with a limp had been challenging, but he'd successfully made it. He was catching up on his homework in between naps when Matt snapped his book shut.

"No more cubicle for you. Where's your stuff?" Matt peeked under the table. "It is a very good thing the room comes furnished. Let's get you moved in."

"So, it was a yes?"

"Unanimous. Couple of the guys couldn't figure out why we didn't do this when the room opened up. Cameron would like you to make spaghetti, though. That was the only condition." Matt hefted the heavier of the boxes and waited for Marty to follow. "Come on, Cameron's in his car waiting at the door. We didn't feel like walking.

* * *

_Present times_

Deeks huddled under the slight overhang that shielded him from the drizzling rain. His first stop after Hetty had thrown him off the case had been to stop at his apartment to pick up his hobo gear. The phone and keys from Hetty had been tucked into a hidden pocket; he would keep them in case of emergencies but there was no way he was going to hide in some safe house. He'd come back to his usual stomping grounds where most of the bums knew him. He'd developed a persona that travelled around the state so when he disappeared and reappeared the other homeless people weren't surprised. He nodded at Crazy Bob and threaded his way through the alley towards the corner that had become his own.

Once he was safely under the cardboard roof, he pulled out the only other two items he'd grabbed from home: a pad of paper and a pencil. The knife tucked in his boot would fill in as a pencil sharpener. Once the words started to come they flowed out onto the paper and by morning he had put everything he knew onto those pages.

* * *

Sam was driving his third route to work when a stoplight halted his progress. He studiously watched the light while scanning his surroundings. On his first scan he saw a panhandler holding up a sign saying 'give some change, make a change'. He had to give him credit, it was a snappy sign. But on his second scan the sign changed. He blinked twice, but the sign still said the same thing.

'Morning Sam, got some change?'

The bum loped up to his window and tapped on it. Sam found himself staring up at a very dirty and hairier version of Deeks. He remembered Kensi saying that Deeks had pulled the same thing on her, but now he actually believed her. He rolled down the window. "The light's going to change soon."

"I've got two to three minutes before you can move." He switched the sign into his other hand and dug out a wad of paper from his pocket. "Here, I wrote down everything I know. This is the stuff that didn't get put in the reports. There are some accounts and names Eric and Nell can search." He passed it over and Sam found himself grabbing a thick stack of pages and based on the size of Deeks' handwriting, there was a lot of information there.

"Hey." Sam looked up at Deeks face, which had transformed into something very serious. Deeks licked his lips and said "Be careful, this guy, he's a wolf in thousand dollar cuff links."

Sam nodded, taken slightly aback at Deeks' sombreness. "We will. How did you know I was here?"

A smirk quickly replaced his tight frown. "I guessed!" He laughed as he spun away from the car, making his way out of the traffic that had just started to move.

Sam shook his head, rolled up his window and drove the rest of the way to work.

* * *

"Nell, can you start a search into these items? Eric, I need you to pull up some traffic cam footage."

"What have you found, Mr. Hanna?" Hetty emerged from the dark corner.

"I had an interesting visit this morning at a red light. It gave me some possible leads." Sam was scanning the image over Eric's shoulder. "There! Zoom in on my car."

"That's a well-placed sign, who's behind it?" Nell squinted at the figure whose head and upper torso was hidden by the cardboard sign.

"It's Deeks. Can you follow him? Find out where he either came from or went to?"

The techs went to work, Nell working backwards and Eric forwards. Before Sam could turn to leave the room, they both came up empty.

"It's like he's a ghost, he appeared out of nowhere!" Nell was fast-forwarding and rewinding, but nothing was changing her opinion.

"And then he disappeared into thin air." Eric grumbled as he scanned different angles.

Hetty moved to stand between them. "If we can't find him, let's hope they can't either. Should've stabbed a tracker into him while I had the chance." She turned and stalked out of the room.

"You...don't think she'd actually do that, do you?" Eric shifted nervously.

Sam smacked him on the back, "Nah, you're easy to find. Just look for a monitor or screen. You're like a bug, attracted to the warmth." He was rewarded with a half-smile from Eric and a giggle from Nell.


	6. Chapter 6

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters  
**A/N:** Thanks to SwanQueen4055, anonkp, knirbenrots, Sweet Lu, and shestarsky for the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 5**

A sharp whistle sounded from above and Kensi and Sam bolted up the stairs. Eric had promised he would signal them when he found the truck.

"There, there it is." Eric pointed at the real-time picture of the truck driving down a highway. "Even better, they're repaving only a few exits ahead of them. Based on where they've been in the last few hours, I don't think they'll get off. I think that they're driving around on highways."

Sam nodded. "Makes sense, it gives them access to a multitude of different places to go and doesn't limit them with traffic lights and side streets."

"Where's the construction and is LAPD on site?" Kensi asked, looking at the map that Nell had put on the screen.

"Here," Eric pointed at the spot, "and yes. LAPD have been directing traffic. Right now it will take them about 15 minutes to reach it with the speed of the traffic, but if we can convince them to lower it from two to one lanes it should give you more time."

"LAPD is already in motion. There is a chopper to get you into position. Unfortunately there will be no van as planned to use as a staging area, but I've asked the LAPD to place their SUVs in spaced distances along the side of the road. The motorists will think it's to discourage people from driving along the shoulder, but it will also give you a place to bring Mr. Callen."

"Are we taking any prisoners?" Sam was running the logistics through his mind.

"No, it should be a snatch-and-grab. The LAPD SWAT will meet you onsite."

As Kensi and Sam rushed out the door and Eric turned back to the computers to begin coordinating, Nell sent a discrete text and hoped for the best.

* * *

_Earlier in the morning_

Nell rushed around, trying to gather all the pieces of herself she'd dropped behind her last night. They had been so busy tracking the truck and the moment they were as far as they could go Hetty unceremoniously kicked them out of the building. She ordered them home for rest. Then when they came in the first thing they had done was tried to chase Deeks down for Sam. Now, as they were finally setting up for the new day she found herself scrambling to find her tablet, her coffee mug, her phone...which seemed to be ringing right now. She chased the sound, finding it tucked in between two monitors.

"Hello!" She answered, slightly out of breath.

"Nell, I need your help." The voice sounded familiar, but the number wasn't

"De..."

"Shh! No one can know I'm calling you!" Deeks cut her off before she could finish.

"Okay, give me a minute." She turned to Eric who was busy checking updates. "I'll be right back." His mumbled response told her he didn't hear her and wouldn't notice anyway. She quickly walked to a corner in the upper hallway where she could see everyone coming and going, but they wouldn't hear her. "Alright, why are you calling me and from what phone?"

"I'm using the phone Hetty gave me, so I guess I need two favours." He took a deep breath. "I need you to keep them from tracing this phone because I need you to let me know where they're going to take down the truck."

"I don't know if I can do that. They're already looking for you. I tracked your phone this morning. How did you appear and disappear so easily by Sam's car?" Nell tried to keep her voice quiet.

"Yes you can, I know, I guessed you would, and lots of experience." Deeks answered her in order. "I have to be there, to make sure Callen's okay."

Nell heard the concern in his voice but wasn't ready to cave yet. "Why didn't you call Eric?"

A muffled laugh came over the line. "Eric? Seriously? He would cave faster to Hetty than a Twinkie wrapper to Kensi's fingers. I know you can do it; I trust you."

He was right and she appreciated his confidence. "Fine. I'll text you the details."

* * *

_Present_

Kensi squatted down in the back of the LAPD SUV against the side where the bench seats should be. They were working their way down the shoulder of the highway to come up behind the tractor trailer. They would approach in the blind spot and fan out to attack the trailer. She looked down at the Kevlar vest she wore that had no identifiers on the front but LAPD very prominent on the back. It was decided they would all go in as SWAT, even Sam sitting beside her. Their hope was that if the PRO Americans did manage to get their hands on security footage they would assume it was a renegade group that Jake Smit had hired to save his brother. It was thin, but Eric was working to block any real footage from getting out there so they wouldn't know what happened at all.

She scanned the similarly dressed and armed SWAT members around her. Or at least, she tried to as best as she could without moving her head and with the limited view her helmet gave her. One looked vaguely familiar at the back of the truck, but they'd worked with so many officers, it could be a coincidence as well. She cleared her mind of her insecurities of missing Deeks at her side, hoping he was okay and safe, and her wishes that for once he would come riding in like a hero. She was comforted by the sheer bulk of Sam pushing against her, but she missed Deeks' wisecracks at a time like this. She steeled her spine and gripped her rifle. It was just about time.

* * *

The view from the back of the SUV was that of barely moving cars and a concrete barrier. Light poles flashed by as the truck barrelled its way down the shoulder. Motorists seemed unconcerned by their presence and went back to checking their phones or radios for traffic updates or whatever else they did to fill the time.

Deeks angled his head further down and towards the back window. He had caught Kensi looking at him but he was pretty sure the combination of helmet, bushier beard, and the high collar from his flak jacket had hidden him well enough. When Nell had texted him the details he'd wasted no time calling up one of the few LAPD officers that he was actually friends with that also happened to coordinate the SWAT teams. He'd called in a big favour and got himself on the team that was going after the trailer. The other men had accepted his presence because their trusted superior had told them to. He was introduced as Johnson and he would stay that way until he melted back into the streets of LA.

His greatest hope was that he would help pull off this operation and fade away without Kensi or Sam realizing he was here. If they knew, they would have to tell Hetty and he would lose his cover. He was sure she would lock him in some closet in the Mission until it was all over. Unfortunately he couldn't let that happen; there was no way he was letting Callen run this operation alone and especially not against the snake Deckson. He would still be involved, he just had to be creative. This creativity explained why he was folded up in the back of a truck in a borrowed SWAT uniform trying to avoid the gaze of his team.

Hopefully when they found out, they would understand.

Hopefully.

* * *

Callen had successfully reviewed every scrap of Spanish he knew. He'd taken a few catnaps when he felt he could to fill the time. By his estimation he'd been sitting the chair for more than a day. Well, except for the few breaks when he was allowed to use the poorly constructed washroom. From those brief trips he'd seen the rest of the trailer. It was not even close to being as nice as the RED trailers, but it did have a galley kitchen, a table, and a communication centre. He thought hockey mask was gone, but he couldn't be sure as they all either had on a mask or kept their backs to him at all times. However none of the body types or movement seemed to match.

His stomach growled, reminding him that it had been several hours since his last bathroom break and protein bar he was allowed to have. Left with no more Spanish, he moved onto his French. He was part way through the present tense when a nasty smelling smoke began to ooze beneath the door.

"That can't be good." He muttered to himself. A cacophony of noises sounded outside his walls and he used it to mask the noise he created as he bumped and scooted the chair to the wall behind him. Best to get a wall behind him if anyone came rushing in.

Suddenly it went much quieter outside and he could just make out the slight screech the doors made when they were swung open. Footsteps sounded and moved closer to the door. The smoke was making its way to his nose and he could feel his grip on consciousness slipping. "Knock-out gas...smart" he mumbled just as the door burst open.

Two men clad in black slid through the door, the first checking the room and the second approaching Callen. Callen caught the back of the first man and comprehended that these people were either LAPD or someone pretending to be the cops. He hoped the first was true. The second man slipped a gas mask over Callen's face and he tasted bottled oxygen. It helped to clear the fog in his brain and he looked up into the face of the man who was just finishing untying him.

"Deeks?" The name came out muffled, but the man still winced.

Deeks nodded and held a finger to his mouth in the universal gesture of 'shh'. Callen peered at him, but nodded his compliance. Deeks and the other man hefted him out of the chair and once he was stable on his feet rushed him out the door, through the trailer strewn with comatose bodies and out into an idling SUV. The officers motioned for him to lie on the floor of the truck and once everyone else had piled in and hunkered down, the vehicle sped off along the shoulder to the next exit.


	7. Chapter 7

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N I:** Thanks to SwanQueen4055 and knirbenrots for leaving a review!

* * *

**Chapter 6**

"Mr. Callen, good to see you in back." Hetty greeted the returning agents from the hallway. "Eric has caught most of the footage and is confident he can hide what transpired on the highway."

"Good to be back. Somebody mind explaining to me what happened?" Callen rubbed his jaw and cocked his eyebrow. He'd ridden back in the helicopter and it had been too noisy to get answers to his questions then.

Hetty held out a hand towards the stairs. "I will, if you'll follow me."

The briefing by Hetty assisted by Nell had answered most of his questions, but he still wanted some clarifications.

"PRO Americans? How active are they?"

Nell thought before answering. "More so in the last two years. This is the first official act they have conducted on American soil...that we know of."

"Do you have pictures? I'd like to see if I can pick out hockey mask." Callen wanted to refer to him by an actual name. Nell nodded and he continued. "Have they made contact?"

Hetty shook her head. "The goal was to get you out without alerting the driver. We hope that will give us some time."

"And Deeks is...where?"

Nell's eyes darted to the ground, but she still answered. "We don't know. He's disappeared and aside from catching Sam this morning, he's been out of touch since he left."

Callen's eyes narrowed slightly, but it was subtle enough that everyone missed it. Hetty only missed it because she was checking with Eric. Callen reasserted his position as team leader by giving some directives. Kensi headed off to check with LAPD to see if they'd had any blowback from the operation. Sam turned to check in with Eric about the information Deeks had given him in the morning and Hetty headed back to her office. With everyone else distracted, Callen nudged Nell into a corner.

"What number did Deeks use to contact you?"

In her defense, she tried really hard to cover her shock with confusion. "I...he didn't." Callen dropped his chin and looked her, knowing that she was lying. She felt like a kid who was caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She tugged out her phone and pulled up the number. "How did you know?"

"He was one of the guys who pulled me out of the truck. That, and we discussed this once."

"In Mexico?" She said with a hint of sarcasm.

"No, I think we were in the States by then." He patted her on the back and then left. Nell watched him go and rolled her eyes, those two were getting entirely too comfortable with each other.

* * *

_Sometime ago somewhere between the Mexican border and LA_

"Most likely to be popular in high school." Callen crunched on his nachos as Deeks drove for a time.

"We're all past high school, how can I predict that?" Deeks held the Gremlin on a straight line as he glanced at Callen.

"Based on what you know now, who do you think would've been the most popular?"

Deeks thought for a moment. "Sam. I know he played football and with his dimple and smile I'm sure the ladies loved cool Sam."

"Agreed. Your turn."

"Alright, best bodyguard." Deeks cocked an eyebrow at Callen who smiled and nodded.

"The obvious answer would be Sam due to his hulking presence, but I'm going to go with Kensi. She can double as a date but would have no problem kicking ass and taking names."

Deeks grinned, "The subtle bodyguard; I like the way you think."

"Most likely to be a superhero in disguise." Callen threw out.

Deeks barked out a laugh. "That's a hard one. I could see Hetty being the manipulator behind the curtain, kind of an Edna from The Incredibles."

"Doesn't count, that's basically what she does right now."

A sly grin found its way onto Deeks' face. "I dunno, I could picture you running around in tights and a cape fighting crime."

Callen glared at Deeks until the grin faded into a smirk. "Not cool." He settled back into his seat. "Besides, I'd rather have a sword and a horse."

"My turn: who would you call if you needed help, Eric or Nell?" Deeks shifted in his seat.

"How's your leg?"

"Burning a bit, but answer the question."

"Definitely Nell. Eric has a bad habit of crumbling under pressure. I think Nell is like a Hetty 2.0-in-training. She can be quite devious if necessary. Now pull over, I'm good to drive again."

* * *

_Present_

Deeks felt the vibrations from an incoming phone call and slipped away from where he'd been on watch. He darted through the back alley and hunkered down beside a dumpster. By the time the phone was dug out of his pocket, it had stopped ringing, but he hit redial and waited.

"Hetty wants to lock you in a closet until this case is done." Callen's voice came through the line and Deeks could hear the smirk he was most definitely making.

"Stuff it." He groused.

"Nah, I'm pretty sure you'd be the one stuffed in." Humour laced his words, but there was still tension.

"I'm glad we got you out." Deeks said after a time.

"Me too." Callen sounded like he was going to ask a question, but he didn't. "We, uh well, Sam left a phone for these guys to contact me. Eric just called us up so that he can brief us on all the players."

"Can you pass the information on?"

"I've got a better idea. Listen and try not to make any noise. I'll leave the phone on speaker."

* * *

Eric double-checked that he had all the files he needed before everyone filed into the room. Nell gave him a smile and grabbed her tablet. This was his show, but she could find the files and put them on the screen just as fast as he could. For a complicated briefing like this, they liked to share the duties. Sam was in the room first, followed by Kensi and Hetty with Callen bringing up the rear. Eric noticed that Callen tossed his phone on the table, but didn't think much about the action.

"Thanks to the internet, groups such as the PRO Americans can be spread out across the world and still connect with each other. That's good news for us because that means there's something to hack." Eric smiled and spun his tablet in his hands. "They have a chat room hidden on this very uninformative and vague site. I noticed when I ran an analysis of the activity that there is a lot of traffic on this one page called 'Vision'. There's a link under 'Nx Step' that leads into the chat room."

"So not only are they trying to create havoc, they can't spell either?" Kensi made a face and rolled her eyes.

Nell grinned, "It's actually smart. Most people wouldn't click on it and programmers would think it's the result of poor web design. Kind of like not completely erasing your pencil mark."

"But it bothered me, so I went digging, where I hit pay-dirt." Eric nodded at Nell who put up the hierarchy scheme they'd created. "They have named themselves after famous generals in the US's history. Think Lee, Sherman, MacArthur, Patton, names like that. I've been tracing IP addresses and real names should be coming soon. All we know right now is that the four usernames I listed are the most active and seem to be in charge."

"They have a couple private chats on the site as well." Nell changed the screen to a series of pages.

"Moving on to the information Sam got from Deeks. Turns out that Matt Deckson, lawyer to the slimy, is more connected to this than we thought. Initially we thought he was just the lawyer who got some of the members off of charges, but now we think he's also been running paperwork for them. A couple property deals, covered their tracks on some purchases..."

"Which is why it was more difficult to find the truck." Nell jumped in.

"And why Deeks was removed from the case." Kensi grumbled, but she straightened up at Hetty's curious gaze.

Oblivious to the tension, Eric kept going. "and he also put them in touch with some of his other clients."

"Is he starting a crime empire or something?" Sam shook his head.

"Basically, yes." Eric nodded and flipped his tablet to his other hand. "If we take this guy out, it'll be a bit like pulling the fuse out of an electrical panel; they'll find a replacement, but they'll have to stumble around in the dark for a while first."

"And we can make sure they stumble right into our hands." The grin sweeping its way across Callen's face was, to put it plainly, maniacal. "Right into our hands." He whispered to himself.

* * *

They left Eric and Nell to their work and Callen took a detour to the washroom where he put his phone to his ear. "Did you get all that?"

There was some rustling before Deeks' voice came across the line. "Yeah, what do we do now?"

"We find that fuse."

A pause stretched until Deeks spoke up. "Might've already done that.


	8. Chapter 8

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N I:** Thanks to I Feel Possessed, jimmer, ncisloverinnc, SwanQueen4055, Reader1976, Knirbenrots, and Guest for dropping reviews!  
**A/N II:** I want to say hi to anyone who has ended up here due to the interview I did with NCISLA Magazine! (If you haven't discovered NCISLAMagazine .com yet, check it out, there's much to explore.) It was a lot of fun to do and the timing put it up right before this chapter which I'm particularly fond of. Enjoy!

* * *

**Chapter 7**

_Several years ago_

With his hood flipped up, Deeks felt better about his chances of getting to a safe place but this was an area where someone with his hood up and hands stuffed deep into pockets screamed 'criminal' not his preferred 'leave me alone'. So his chances had both gone up and gone down. Great.

The safe house was out of the question. He was sure it had been blown this morning. Thankfully, he'd been living like a drifter and anything that was of real value to him was stashed in various pockets. One thing that people didn't appreciate about layering your clothing was the extra pockets.

He figured his best chance at seeing another sunrise was to get himself arrested. The only condition was that it had to be by someone who he could talk to; it couldn't be some rookie or a cop who didn't care. He had to find the right person. His plan was to play drunk which meant he needed to find himself a bottle as well. However this all seemed insignificant to the fact that he was being followed by two men who _really_ wanted him dead.

He was so close to the beach. He knew of most of the patrol cops there either from work or from surfing in the area. He hoped that one of them was working. And that he didn't get them killed in the process of the two goons killing him.

"Stay in crowded areas, who wants to fire into an open crowd?" The voice of the instructor bounced around in his head. "Somebody who is motivated by a very large pile of money and who has no respect for human life, that's who." He mumbled to himself. He stopped his reflexes from turning his head to check if they were still behind him. Instead he swerved towards a window to check the reflection behind him.

Yep, still present and still pissed.

He needed to create confusion between him and them. His mouth quirked into a smirk as opportunity presented itself. A high-pitched voice led him towards a cheerleader-type who was trying to organize a group photo of what appeared to be a sorority field trip. He manoeuvred his way through the crowd and came up right behind her.

A quick pinch on her behind and a growled "Hey there sweet cheeks" had her screaming and protesting, but by the time she got out the words to explain her disgust, he had moved on. But he left a stomping and searching mass behind him, effectively blocking the wide sidewalk. Now to disappear.

He worked his way through a couple blocks of people and still hadn't seen a cop he felt he could trust with his life. There'd been one bike cop, but Deeks remembered him from one early morning on the beach; he'd been threatening to arrest some of Deeks' surfing buddies because they looked 'vagabond-ish'. Too many muscles elsewhere and not enough in his brain.

His goal was to stay in heavy traffic areas while still getting closer to the nearest precinct. The tightness that had held his chest captive since he suspected he'd been blown had eased slightly when he lost his pursuers, but he didn't relax. He couldn't relax. He'd relax when he was dead and he didn't want that any time soon.

He kept moving through the crowd, he could almost see the street he needed when he was yanked into an alley way. His feet bounced across the uneven pavement and couldn't find any traction. Deeks tried to see who had grabbed him, but it wasn't really necessary.

He knew who, and it was trouble finally catching up with him.

"Mr. Deckson sends his regards, he'd like some information." The scar that ran down the man's cheek that ended at his lip pulled his smile into something more grotesque. He slammed Deeks back into the wall as the other man yanked out his knife.

Deeks was pretty sure this was where it was going to end for him. In a dirty, dingy back alleyway in a city he'd never left once. A part of his brain was wondering why his life wasn't flashing before his eyes. Sure it wasn't the greatest, but it had been quite eventful. The other part was still trying to figure a way out, but with the man's arm just about crushing his lungs, he couldn't get the air to talk and talking was involved in all of his plays. He was running out of options.

"Him!" The screech came from the end of the alley. It sounded like nails on a chalkboard combined with squealing brakes, but to Deeks it sounded like delicate wind chimes dancing in the light breeze.

"The one in the hoodie?" There was more than one, maybe he wouldn't die. And the distinct deep bass voice reminded him of one of the cops he had been so desperately searching for.

Suddenly the pressure on his chest was gone and he opened his eyes to see the two men swiftly leaving the scene of their almost-crime. He sank to the ground as he sucked in air. His head was pushed back and he glanced up to find exactly who he'd been searching for. Finally, good news.

"Deeks?" The hulking cop asked quietly, confused but still trying to respect the victim behind him.

"Arrest me. Get me to the precinct. Now." Deeks gasped out.

* * *

_Present day_

"Hi Sam, grab your gear, we need to find Deeks."

Sam, startled, looked around his living room where he had fallen asleep on the couch. His eyes latched onto Callen who was standing over him. He took a moment to shake the sleep out of his brain and then glared up at his partner. "I know we need to find him, we've been looking ever since he disappeared."

"Yeah, but I have a good idea where he is and I need to talk to him. Hey Michelle."

Sam pushed himself off the couch and nodded at his wife. "It's late, can't this wait?"

Callen turned to ignore Sam and instead addressed Michelle. "Deeks has misplaced himself, we need to go check on him."

Michelle's eyes narrowed, "Marty? He hasn't found his way into some bar or something, has he?"

Callen shook his head, "Nope, he's a hobo down by the beach." Michelle thought about it for a moment and then nodded her consent. "Great! Sam, here's your priest collar...and the shirt...you can wear jeans..." Callen muttered as he dug through the bag he brought in with him.

"How did you get in here, I locked the door!" Sam felt like yelling, but he knew there were sleeping ears and he didn't want to wake them. Both Callen and Michelle leveled an I-can't-believe-you-just-asked-that pitying look at him and he shut his mouth.

"Are you handing anything out? Because I have a brand new jumbo pack of socks that Sam refuses to wear on his delicate feet that you can hand out."

"Thanks, that'll help our cover." Callen smiled.

Sam gave in, he was hopelessly outnumbered and there was going to be no more sleeping if Michelle got it in her head that he should go. He gave one more forlorn gaze to his couch and TV and snatched the clothes out of Callen's hand. He felt like stomping to the garage to grab what gear he would need, but then he'd never hear the end of that either.

* * *

"Did you see how reluctant that guy was to admit somebody lives down this alley?" Sam hooked his thumb back towards a man they now knew as Crazy Bob. "I think me being a former SEAL is the only thing that let us through."

"Even then, he wasn't too keen on me going with you." Callen shrugged the bag holding the socks and sandwiches higher on his shoulder. "I feel better knowing that these guys are protective of Deeks."

They slid deeper into the darkness of the alley. Deeks had chosen well for his hideout; there was only one way in but Callen and Sam noted several doors and cut-offs where someone could hide. The alley also narrowed near the middle and whoever was entering would have to show themselves. Callen pointed out a hidden ladder that lead out to a roof. It was a terrible place to panhandle, but a spectacular place to stay out of sight. Finally they made out a cardboard shelter tucked into a corner where Sam cracked the green glow sticks they'd brought for light. Callen studied the structure, trying to figure out where the opening was. He reached in a hole and tapped on what he thought was an arm...or a leg. It had the desired effect, sort of.

Deeks shot out of the shelter through a hole not visible to them. He pulled a knife out and stared at them with a feral look in his eyes. Callen and Sam unconsciously backpedaled a step and raised their arms. With chest heaving Deeks glared fiercely at them, and Callen was sure both his and Deeks' hearts were going to rocket out of their chests. A second pulled into more but then Deeks pocketed the knife and waved them towards some boxes while rubbing his forehead. Callen and Sam took a seat and waited while Deeks paced off some of his adrenaline. Finally, he took one long look down the alley and came to join them.

"We brought you clean socks." Sam wanted to start on a neutral topic.

"Michelle said Sam's feet are too delicate for them." Callen's amused tone drew a smile out of Deeks and a snarl from Sam.

"I appreciate it." Deeks paused and worked his jaw. "Sorry about that," he waved back towards the shelter. "This case is bringing up all the memories from the last time I ran into Matt."

Both Sam and Callen waved his apology away. "We shouldn't have snuck up on you." Sam added.

"Speaking of...where is he?" Callen didn't really care for easing into the topic.

"His official office hasn't moved, but like in the past he's doing his other work out of another office in a neighbouring tower. He claims he spends the time doing pro bono cases, but it's a lie." Deeks dug a piece of paper out of his pocket. "Here's the office number and building name. I got a look at the office and it's heavily guarded. Our best chance to get at him would be when he's moving from one office to the other."

Sam looked at the address and furrowed his brow. "You got all the way up to the office? How? You're not exactly dressed right."

"Who said I went in during the day?" Deeks cocked an eyebrow and smirked which earned a roll of the eyes from Sam.

Callen laid out his plan, "I think we should snatch him once Eric finds the people hiding behind the IP addresses. It should be a quick and dirty takedown, just me and Deeks."

Sam, clearly not impressed tried to figure out an angle to change his partner's mind, but he noticed that Callen had that look in his eyes, that one where nothing anyone said would make it through. "Fine, but you are putting the rest of us in the loop. Can't help if we can't find you."

Callen nodded, a bit too innocently, and smiled.

Sam grimaced. He was going to have to keep an eye on these two.


	9. Chapter 9

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N:** Reviews cause random acts of grinning, so ya'll had me smiling; thanks to Sweet Lu, knirbenrots, jmlane1966, shestarsky, emceejay, SwanQueen4055, Reader1976, Guest, blue dogs rock, and Guest.

* * *

**Chapter 8**

"You kidnapped me and now this?!" He had just woken up and shot to his feet, there was confusion in his eyes while he tried to figure out an escape.

"Put the gun down." The half-bitten off words slipped out of Callen's tight jaw. His eyes skipped over the situation, trying to halt the disaster before it became even worse.

A cackle came from in front of his gun. "I'd being doing us a favour. Heck, the attorney's office would probably give me a medal."

"Deeks, this isn't the way to deal with this."

The detective shifted his head slightly, catching Callen in his peripheral vision but leaving his focus on the man with his hands up. "Why not? It would solve a lot of problems."

The man holding his hands up shifted to his left but stopped moving when Deeks' glare hardened and he cocked his gun.

"Don't make me shoot you." Callen hated that he was pointing his gun at his friend, but it was the way it had to be.

"Waitwaitwaitwait!" Matt waved his hands. "We can work this out...nobody will have to shoot anybody, especially me. Just tell me who you are and what you want."

"Worried about marring that perfect six-pack, Matt? Because I can guarantee you it hurts more than you think." Deeks snarled. "But based on my last shooting test, you wouldn't have to worry about the pain 'cause you'd be dead."

* * *

Kensi glanced at Sam who was stationed on the other side of the opening. Thanks to the darkness of the hallway and the light pooling around the trio they were hidden from sight. She tightened her grip on her assault rifle as she listened to the exchange down below. She looked a bit harder at Sam, was he...smiling?

"Should we stop this from getting any worse?" She hissed at Sam.

He turned and lazily shook his head. "Nah, it's not nearly as bad as it looks." At Kensi's confused shake of her head, Sam continued. "This is a modification of one of the plays G and I'll do. Normally G's the unhinged one, wonder how he feels playing the sane one."

"Did you know they were doing this?"

Sam caught Kensi's eyes, the low light supplying just enough so that she could see the sincerity in his gaze. "You were not kept out of the loop. They're just clicking on this case scary-well."

* * *

_An hour earlier_

This was going to be the very definition of quick and dirty, Deeks thought to himself as he lounged against a post holding out a hat for money. Callen was hunkered down in an off-duty taxi van across the sidewalk from him. They were both on edge, waiting for their prey to walk into their trap. He peered down into his hat; at least he was being productive, there was enough in there to buy both of them a coffee.

He scanned the sidewalk and this time was rewarded with a familiar man walking towards him and better yet, he was distracted and talking on his cell phone. Deeks judged his speed, signalled Callen to be ready, waited for the right moment and then gave Callen the sign to hit the button to open the van's sliding door. It was just open when Deeks pushed off the post and launched himself at where Matt would be. He timed it perfectly and the two of them rolled into the van. Deeks scrambled to get on top of Matt and had him cuffed while Callen hit the button to close the door and then peeled off into traffic. A quick turn slammed Deeks and Matt into the side of the van but Deeks recovered quickly and cold cocked Matt.

The next time Callen slowed down he slid into the passenger seat and ripped off his hobo disguise. They each rolled down their windows and undid the latches that held the taxi sign on the top of the van. It blew off into open space and Callen rocketed into the next turn. They found the right alleyway and Deeks pulled the door open to the warehouse. Callen parked the van out of the way and together they dragged Matt into the pool of light from the single light and uncuffed him.

Then they waited.

"You must have hit him pretty good." Callen stood cross-armed.

"I have some hard feelings towards him." Deeks shrugged.

"You do remember you get to point a gun at him when he wakes up."

"But I don't get to actually shoot him."

"Right, Hetty wouldn't like that."

"Does Hetty even know we're doing this?"

Callen scrunched up his face to keep from laughing. "Of course she does. I'm pretty sure my shoe is GPS'ed. That could have also been Sam, though."

Deeks nudged Matt with his foot and sighed. "Okay, maybe I did hit him excessively hard."

* * *

_Present_

"Worried about marring that perfect six-pack, Matt? Because I can guarantee you it hurts more than you think." Deeks snarled. "But based on my last shooting test, you wouldn't have to worry about the pain 'cause you'd be dead."

"I don't want to be dead!" Matt screeched.

"A lot of people are dead because of you, Matty!" Deeks injected even more crazy into his voice and Matt flinched.

"I know that!" Suddenly an idea dawned on Matt and his eyes skirted between the two men. "I know a lot of things, things I've never told anyone. I'm a lawyer, I know about deals and immunity."

"I'm sure you know how to deal." Deeks snarled, switched his gun to his left hand and stalked up to Matt. "I've been on the raw end of your deals." Then he slugged him.

Matt dropped like a rock and both men holstered their guns. Callen walked up to stand beside Deeks and sighed.

"You hit him excessively hard again."

Deeks shrugged, "He has to stay out until we get to the boathouse. This time was justified."

"So now this is an official part of the case?" A voice came out of the darkness and both men winced.

"Kensi, glad you made it." Deeks put on his best smile, but Kensi was not amused.

"You look like shit. So this is Matt Deckson?" She poked him with a toe.

Sam came into the light after her and shook his head at the two. "What's the plan, because, I'm hoping one of you came up with something past this."

Callen took a breath, as though Sam had gravely insulted him. "Of course we do. Deeks and I are going to go raid Matt's unofficial office, Kensi can take this pile of lawyer to the boat house and Sam will have to follow up with Eric and Nell with our next targets." As he spoke Kensi's face screwed into a scowl and she stomped her foot at the end.

"Enough!" She spat out. "We're never going to get these guys if we don't stop fracturing the team into bits. I've had enough of Deeks disappearing with Callen." Both opened their mouth to protest and Sam smirked but Kensi held up her hand. "Not to mention you Sam, who is supposedly partnered up with _me_, wandering off to help hide Deeks. We've been a man down this entire time. It's time we work together for once in this case. Are we clear?!" Nods were the only thing she wanted to see and that's all she got. "Good. Let's go back to the boathouse and plan. Sam, you make sure Hetty doesn't stuff Deeks in a closet, we're going to need him."

* * *

Deeks shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat of Kensi's Cadillac, but she was in no mood to make it easier for him. She fumed while she drove and he tried to stay as far away from her as possible.

They had loaded Matt into the back of the taxi which Sam took over and Callen jumped into the passenger seat. Deeks took a step towards the van but Sam had shook his head and pointed at Kensi who was stalking towards her vehicle. Deeks pouted, dropped his shoulders and then followed her with as much enthusiasm as a man facing a noose. Callen smirked but a glare from Sam had halted that.

"Can we pick up some food, I haven't eaten in a while." Deeks pressed what little luck he had left by speaking.

"What were you thinking? Taking off without any way of contacting you? Just after you got back?" Kensi exploded, but she did make a highly illegal turn into a parking lot near a handful of food stands.

Deeks blew out a breath and went for honesty again. "Remember when Scarli got my partner Jess Traynor killed?"

"Yeah"

"That was nothing. This guy almost killed half our undercover operatives. Half! At least three can be directly tied to his hand and he blew the covers of at least two dozen more. Do you know what happens to undercover cops when they're blown? They rot at desks in different departments, almost never allowed back in the field doing what they want to be doing. Constantly worried that someone will recognize them and take a shot at their head for glory and status. Depression, having to uproot your entire life, suicide" his voice cracked, "it's not uncommon for them to never come back."

"So you decided to take a run directly at him?" She stared at him, incredulous at his stupidity.

"No...I cased his office, made plans but waited until it was the right time to take him in."

"You didn't tell me." Kensi grumbled.

"How did you know where to go today?"

Kensi narrowed her eyes, "A set of GPS coordinates came to Sam's and my phones."

Deeks nodded. "I knew we should have back-up. I feel better having your sniper skills covering my back any day."

She wasn't ready to let him off the hook yet, but at least he had made an effort to include her.

"Plus, I knew once we had Matt in custody I could come back and we would finish it together."

Okay, well that was logical. "Fine. I don't necessarily like how this has all happened, but you're not dead, so that's a plus."


	10. Chapter 10

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N:** Thanks to blue dogs rock, jmlane1966, SwanQueen4055, ToOldToShip, guest m (I fixed it, thanks for the heads-up) and Scorp' Blues for the reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Sam and Callen lounged at the table watching their new prisoner sleep off Deeks' fist in the interrogation room.

"I'm surprised his nose is still intact." Sam took a sip of his coffee.

Callen smiled. "I'm surprised his head is still attached to his neck. There was a disconcerting crack when he hit him."

The door opened and Sam and Callen glanced over their shoulders to see who had entered.

"Hey Kens, I think this is the first time we've beat you here." Callen cocked an eyebrow.

She hitched a thumb back at Deeks who was coming through the door balancing a Big Gulp, a take-out bag, and a cardboard hamburger container. "I had to feed him. He gets whiney when he's hungry,"

Deeks made a face at her with a mouth full of fries. He shook his head and gestured to his partner with his cup. He clomped over to the table, still feeding French fry after French fry into his mouth as he moved. He dropped into a chair and emptied his hands. The four sat in silence as Deeks downed his food. Finally, once the sound of a straw sucking air filled the air did anyone speak.

"Where's my M&M's?" Deeks raised his eyebrows at Kensi. "I saw you slip them off the counter."

Kensi gave him a glare, but Deeks just grinned. She huffed, and passed over the half-eaten bag she'd been working on. "Here's your dessert. Clean the food out of your teeth and let's go talk to this guy now that he's awake."

Sam and Callen shared a look; Kensi just gave up chocolate? She must have been worried about Deeks.

Deeks threw a handful of the treats into his mouth and chomped them down. He took a drink out of Callen's coffee mug full of water and sauntered after Kensi.

"Did you really just let him drink out of your cup?" Sam stared at the offending mug with mild disgust.

"It's going to suck in there for him, I figured I'd let this one slide." Callen shrugged and turned up the volume on the TV as the slamming door of the interrogation room fully woke up their prisoner.

* * *

"Matthew Deckson. Lawyer to the guilty, nasty, and lowlifes." Kensi crossed the room to stand across from Matt. Deeks hung back and leaned against the wall behind Matt under the window.

"That's your opinion, and why am I here?" Matt was so focussed on the brunette, he hadn't noticed his old friend hidden in the shadows.

Kensi gave a little smirk. "We'll get to that. First, tell me where these men are hiding." She dealt out the pictures of the men hidden behind the PRO American screen names. Nell had done a good job once Eric had the names; she'd searched to find shots of them that appeared to be surveillance photos instead of ID photos. They hoped this would make Matt think that they only had the pictures and little else to go with it.

"Who said they're hiding?" Matt scoffed.

"So you know them." Kensi nodded her head.

Matt rolled his eyes; that was a rookie move on his part, but this woman was strikingly beautiful. "Yeah, I defended a man and these were his witnesses. The only contact I had with them was to get their statements."

Kensi sat down across from Matt and furrowed her brow. "Hmm. That's interesting. Because there's this..." She laid out a transcript of a series of phone calls between Matt and some of the pictured men "and this..." she added a picture of a group of them, including Matt, mugging on a golf green "and finally, this." The final nail in his lie's coffin was a member contact page that Eric and unearthed from the depths of the website.

A small smile flickered across Deeks' face as Matt went a shade paler.

She wasn't done yet. "You've established that as a lawyer you know things. Well, you've been in many situations like this one, I've played a few heavy cards here, are you willing to bet that this is all I have?" She grinned knowingly across the table.

Kensi was _almost_ right; Matt had been in many situations like this, but he'd never been on the receiving end of the interrogation, he'd always been the lawyer and never in danger. She was putting him off-balance and it was throwing off his game. So he thought. Hard. He'd seen investigators lay hard evidence on the table like this before, but they were either lying or not too smart. He discarded the second assumption as it appeared this woman was capable and clearly confident. So she had to be lying; only, this was some definitive proof that was factual. She was playing a different game, so he had to adapt.

"You know, you haven't told me what agency you're from yet." He tried to change the subject.

"NCIS, and you haven't answered my question." She grinned at him.

That didn't work. He wouldn't try to argue about how they took him down – that was a move of desperation and federal agencies tended to work under a different set of rules. He cries foul about the guerilla operation, they say 'patriot act' and he's on his way to Cuba. No, he needed to feel out a deal.

"I may have a phone number somewhere in my rolodex." He kept the possibility open that he knew nothing.

"You may?" Her eyebrows raised. "Right, and you'll only tell us where this magical rolodex is once you're safe in a cushy federal pen."

Hmm, he wasn't expecting her to shoot him down that quickly. "And the names and their meeting house. Those two got off their charges because witnesses are horribly flaky, y'know." He sweetened the pot.

She pursed her lips. "Any decent operation wouldn't tell their lawyer where they hide out, and their lawyer wouldn't ask."

He shrugged. "You're right, I didn't ask. I may have put a private investigator on them to find out. Since they didn't _tell_ me, I don't _officially_ know."

"Lawyerly double speak for covering your own ass in case, well, in case something like this" she waved her hand around at the room "ever happens."

He nodded. "What do you have to offer?"

She paused and stared off to the right. She closed her eyes and smiled. "That he won't shoot you in the head and dump you in the sea." She then looked over his shoulder.

Matt became aware that there was someone behind him. He turned slowly and found himself staring at his old friend, the one who he had bared his soul to and then put a hit on a mere year later.

Deeks pushed himself off the wall and moved to the table like a panther stalking its prey. He dropped one hand on the table and the other on the back of Matt's chair. As he leaned down a grin pulled its way across his face, a grin that was full of self-satisfaction and justifiable anger. His voice was low and deadly when he spoke. "Turns out we don't need you; our formidable tech team has very current names and addresses on all your buddies. We'd let you go, but you just admitted to witness tampering and confirmed your association with a known terrorist group. Bad for you."

"I have friends in jail, friends that would _love_ to know about your new employment." Matt sneered at Deeks. Kensi watched as Deeks crossed his arms and stuffed his desire to take his gun back out and shoot the guy deep down. She wanted to shoot him too, but Hetty's entrance put an end to that idea.

"Oh no, Mr. Deckson, you won't have any friends where you are going."

The composition of the molecules in the interrogation room shifted as their ninja leader entered. Kensi and Deeks caught each other's eyes, both wondering what she was doing here.

"No, you will be going to a Navy controlled prison due to a string of offenses against our armed forces."

Matt was thrown off-balance by Hetty and pulled back. "I never messed with the Navy."

"No?" Hetty's eyebrows shot up and she pointed at Deeks. "You messed with him and he works for me." She clasped her hands behind her back. "I have friends as well and together we will ensure you never gain access to your friends. Your transfer to jail is here." On cue two hulking Marines stepped through the doorway and set about securing their prisoner for transfer.

Once he was out of the room, Deeks turned to Hetty and with all the sincerity he could muster, he said "Thanks Hetty."

She nodded and then headed out of the room while saying, "He thinks he has friends, bah, his friends will disappear whereas mine _owe_ me. Speaking of, I should pick up a few more bottles of scotch..."

Kensi caught Deeks' eye and they stared at each other for a moment before breaking into giggles.


	11. Chapter 11

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N:** Thanks to SwanQueen4055, blue dogs rock, and jmlane1966 for the reviews, they brighten my day.

* * *

**Chapter 10**

The four stood in a loose semi-circle, watching the van holding the illustrious Matt Deckson drive away with the traffic. There was a heavy silence that hung around the group. This case had been disjointed from the beginning and what should have felt like a victory instead felt disappointing.

When the roof of the van could no longer be seen they filed back into the boat house to find Hetty perched on the couch. "As much as I would like to remand Mr. Deeks to the Mission for a lengthy debrief, a voicemail left for the Savics require his and Mr. Callen's attention. Eric will bring you up to speed." She left the building through the side door.

"She was going to stick you in a closet." The other three said in unison to Deeks, whose only response was to roll his eyes.

"Can we focus? Eric has information for us to follow up on and apparently there's been a call." Deeks took the teasing in stride, but his shoulders were drooping.

"Eric, can you play back the voicemail?" Kensi turned to the screen where Eric popped up. She nudged Deeks' shoulder with her own. She had his back.

"Uh...one second." Back in his domain Eric tapped away at the keyboard. "Here it is."

A tinny voice filtered through the speakers. "We have the funds ready. There's a warehouse at the address I've texted you. The exchange will happen tomorrow at 2 as you requested."

Callen turned to face the group. "That's the voice of hockey mask whose code name is General Sherman in the chat room and whose real name is Bill Wallace. We've been going back and forth since you 'liberated' me from the trailer." He turned back to the screen "Eric, where's the warehouse."

"Already on it." Eric's face shrunk to fill a small corner of the screen and the rest was taken up by an aerial view of a warehouse complex. "It's the one in the top right hand corner. There are two entrances in the fence directly across from two of its doors. Nell found out that at least one of the security guards is part of PRO American. They clearly have the upper hand here."

"Then we have to even the playing field. Eric?" Callen raised his eyebrows at the techie.

Eric's eyes flashed side-to-side. "Uh...sure, but how? What...you mean me?" He pointed at himself and squirmed in his chair.

"Yep." Callen crossed his arms and a corner of his mouth lifted slightly and the other three could see a sparkle in his eyes that the webcam couldn't pick up. "You're going to give us the advantage."

"But...it's a warehouse. I can't hack a building." Eric laughed nervously. "Right?" The unsure smile dropped off his face as he leaned forward. "You're not going to make me go in there, are you?"

At this point they couldn't hold their smiles in any more. Deeks glanced at Kensi who had a fist against her lips. They caught each other's eyes and through a series of facial movements had a quick conversation. Sam just watched and took note; these two were really coming together as partners. Deeks ended it off with a wink and Kensi shook her head slightly as she fought a grin.

Callen was still busy messing with Eric. "I'm not asking you to hack a building. I'm telling you to hack the city mainframe. Two specific parts."

Hetty, who was unsurprisingly listening in, cleared her throat over the speakers. "What illegal activities are you ordering Mr. Beale to complete?"

"Do you think she puts her bugs in after it's swept, or are her bugs just undetectable?" Deeks posed the question to the group, not expecting an answer.

"Watch it Mr. Deeks, there are closets in the boat house as well." Humour laced her tone but she was undeterred. "Mr. Callen?"

Callen sighed and pointed at the two roads leading out of the warehouse. "I think this road is overdue for some maintenance and I think the sewer drain under the other road should have its regularly scheduled inspection. We slow down the exit points and we can gain some control. Plus we can put some of our men on the crews as back-up."

"Eric, better start on that." Hetty said and Eric's head bobbed as he started accessing the necessary sections of the city's mainframe.

"Nell, what other agencies are interested in the PRO Americans?" Callen posed the question to the figure hovering at Eric's shoulder. Eric rolled over to the other computer and Nell took his place.

"FBI, CIA, and Homeland Security have all had their eyes on them, but the ATF has an active investigation. There's two agents assigned part-time to the case." Nell pulled up the information she'd been gathering over the course of the case.

Callen smiled, "It looks like today is their lucky day. We need to talk to them and set up tomorrow's operation."

Nell tapped on her keyboard. "Numbers are on your phone."

* * *

Sam flashed his badge at the reception desk and filled out their information. Callen also pulled out his badge and after they had checked in, they clipped their visitor's badges to their shirts. "That was fast, think Hetty made a call?" Callen innocently asked.

A heavy sigh escaped through Sam's pressed lips. "Why do you ask me these things? Of course she made calls. She just buried Deeks' arch-nemesis in a Navy prison without any trial; you think she can't get us through ATF's security a little faster?"

"You should watch your sighing, you might throw your back out one of these days, and then what good will you be to me?"

Sam crushed the elevator button harder than necessary and did one of his calming exercises. Callen, who recognized that he wasn't going to get a rise out of Sam that way, spent the ride to their floor plotting his next way to annoy his partner. They exited the elevator and followed the directions they'd been given. They ended up at a cubicle labelled "Jim Zhou" which held a man with elbows firmly planted on his desk and hands clenched in his black hair.

"Agent Zhou?" Sam knocked on the divider which gave a muted clunk.

The man spun and pulled his hands out of his hair, leaving chunks of it sticking up. His hand flew back up and tried to smooth down the patches. "Yes. If you'll follow me we can talk in the conference room." He wiped his hands on his pants, stood, and motioned them to follow. He stuck his hand out, "Call me Jim." He shook their hands and led them to a room off the main area.

"I'm Callen and this is Sam." Callen introduced themselves as they settled into their chairs. "Are you okay Jim?"

He nodded...nervously. "It's just...I'm the junior agent. Molly...Agent Hanover, she, uh, started her maternity leave yesterday and I'm not quite used to being on my own now."

"You miss your partner?" Sam asked as he gave his some serious side-eye.

"Yeah," Jim nodded. "She's going to be really annoyed that this case finally got some action right after she left."

A second man walked through the door and took the seat beside Jim. "Sorry I'm late, got caught on my way up."

Jim provided the introduction. "This is Steve Hanover, he's in charge of the assault teams. How's Molly?"

"Fine, right now. But she's going to be pissed that she missed this. I'll bring her footage, hopefully that won't induce labour." Steve laughed. "Hey, ease up Jim, I know this is your first time running an operation, but you've got me, everything Molly taught you, and what looks like two professionals sitting across from you."

Steve's laid back demeanor caught on and smiles broke out on everyone's face. Jim looked across the table, "Do you mind explaining how this all happened? The case was stone cold and then I get a phone call from my boss that two agents from NCIS would be visiting me and I was to set up an operation for tomorrow."

Callen summarized the cover he and Deeks had been operating under. "We'd rather not do the take-down ourselves if we don't have to. The last one was done by the CIA. You have an active case against them, so we thought this would be a good solution."

Steve leaned forward. "What's the plan?"

The grin stretched across Callen's face edged into evil genius. "It's a good one."

* * *

Deeks popped another M&M into his mouth. Kensi had refused to share the rest of her bag so Deeks had hiked out to a convenience store to get more candy. They watched the guard rotation and occasionally took some pictures. It was boring work, but it had to be done.

"Are you ever going to be able to explain what's been going on with you?" Kensi's quiet voice boomed through the silence in the car.

The melted chocolate turned sour in Deeks' mouth. He recognized that she didn't ask him to explain himself, instead, whether he would be able to. "Yes." The finality echoed off the windshield. "But I don't know when." He twisted his head to face Kensi. "I do know that you'll be the first person to find out."

Kensi gave him a half grin. "Good to know. Let's finish here and then try and get some sleep before we have to play out whatever's in Callen's head."

* * *

**A/N:** The next chapter is giving me fits. I don't want to split it so it'll be long, but that means I'll need (a teeny-tiny bit of) extra time to finish it. Stay tuned.


	12. Chapter 12

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N:** Reviews are red, reviewers are blue, there's a reason I don't write poetry too. Thanks to ToOldToShip, SwanQueen4055, blue dogs rock, keviana, jmlane1966, IFeelPossessed, and knibenrots for dropping reviews!

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Steve and his ATF crew stared at the plan one more time. "It's bat-shit crazy." Steve's second-in-command shook his head, wide-eyed. "I think it's actually going to work...that's what scares me."

"Assuming they don't helicopter the guns out, it'll work." Steve tipped his head to the side and looked at the plan. "Although, lifting a shipping container out of an area like this isn't exactly subtle, hopefully they agree."

"It was nice of the CIA to not unpack the container for us." Deeks slipped his jacket on over the shirt Hetty had thrust at him with a warning not to mar it.

"This is the same container from Colombia?" Sam asked as he paused his walk-around of the tractor trailer.

Callen nodded. "Yep, they sent it back to us after they finished their paperwork. It contains a load of unusable guns and it was taking up too much space on their lot."

"Are you sure they'll buy the idea that the strip blew and not the tires?" Kensi strapped her Kevlar on and gave it a tug.

Callen winced. "It's the only weak point in the plan, that's why it has to be timed perfectly. Right Eric?"

Eric's voice came over the comms, "Years of videogames have prepared me for this very moment. I am quick with the button-pushing."

Sam smirked, "Nell, has he been watching kung-fu movies again?"

"That would be correct." She giggled at the face Eric must be making. "We made sure it's a direct link to the camera with very little delay. We're confident it will work."

"Do a final check everybody and get into position." Callen addressed the group and then made his way over to Jim. "Are you ready for this?"

Jim gave him a nervous grin. "I think so. I made cheat-notes." He held up a pad of paper scribbled with short sentences. "The fact that Eric and Nell are helping is calming me down."

Callen smiled, "If this all works out, you'll have a nice big gold star on your record. If it doesn't, we'll blame Sam." A muffled 'I heard that!' wafted their way. "You'll be fine."

* * *

Sam tapped his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for Callen's signal to drive in. Callen and Deeks had driven into the warehouse first to confirm the terms of the deal and they would call him in once it was done. He squeezed his lips together and tried to calm down; it wasn't that he didn't trust Deeks, he just didn't trust him to watch Callen's back.

That wasn't fair. The two of them had made it through their trip down south fairly unscathed. Hetty had done the right thing shipping them off to a private clinic as soon as they walked through the door. If he was being honest, the sight of Callen's face peppered with tiny shrapnel from the explosion and the way he was holding his ribs so perfectly still made him want to pound Deeks into the floor. But Callen had stepped slightly in front of him and then when Deeks and Callen started listing off each other's wounds, the red had edged out of Sam's vision and he noticed way Deeks was babying his leg and the fading bruises on his face. He mentally took a step back when he saw the easy smiles on their faces. When he threatened Deeks it was more bark than bite. He found himself grudgingly admitting an uneasy respect of Deeks' skills when the final report was compiled and landed on his desk.

His world had a new hitch in its revolution. When he came back from his and Callen's trip out to find Deeks Michelle had pushed him to find out how he was doing. When he told her what he could about where he was staying, she pulled a package of chicken out of the freezer to thaw and checked to see if she had the necessary ingredients of a batch of chicken soup.

"He's not coming back tomorrow." He had pointed out to her.

"I know, I'll freeze it in portions. He'll need to rest after an ordeal like this."

"He's used to doing this, it's what he did with the LAPD all the time." He wasn't sure why she cared so much; first she sided with Callen for him to go and now she was cooking for Deeks. So he asked.

Michelle stopped what she was doing and looked at him. "He has a good heart. Sure his methods are..." she smirked at her husband, "not your first choice, but you have to face the truth that you're not always right." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "One of these days you're going to need his help, whether you want it or not. So accept him for what he is, a great cop and becoming a valuable asset to your team."

Sam went back to drumming his fingers against the steering wheel. The bond that Callen and Deeks shared was based in a place that Sam couldn't understand. He believed it had to do with their similar backgrounds; they both had rough childhoods, they worked for many years with little back-up, and they were both fiercely loyal. Kensi and himself, on the other hand, had loving parents, had been raised with idea of depending on teams, but were also loyal to a fault. Maybe that was his problem, he was being loyal to Callen, not to the team as a whole. In this situation the pairing of Deeks and Callen was the best option and it was time for Sam to start acting like he was on a team – in this instance he was the support and not on the front line.

He had to be happy with listening in so he turned up the volume on his headphones that were broadcasting what was going on in the warehouse.

* * *

Callen and Deeks shared a look as the representatives from PRO American had a chat off by their car. Eric had confirmed through their earpieces that 3 of the 4 top lieutenants had shown up for the buy. Clearly they wanted the product bad enough and felt safe enough surrounded by their own people to not send their underlings.

Deeks had been introduced by Callen and immediately laid out the grounds of the deal. The guns were sitting on a truck waiting for their signal. The firing pins would be sent by a courier once the Savics were clear of the area. Ammunition was a separate deal. The trio had traded glances and nodded, this was already known to them. Deeks then confirmed the price with them. So far nothing was shocking anyone and everyone was happy. The reason for the chat had yet to be explained, but as the professionals they were, Callen and Deeks took it in stride and waited in silence.

"We conferred with the security of this complex and they are confident that there aren't any uninvited guests." Wallace, Callen's hockey-mask-wearing captor was the spokesperson for the group.

Some of the tension Callen had been carrying in his gut released, he wanted to smile, but wouldn't, because he'd been right that doing the take-down in the building would've ruined the entire operation. "Were you expecting any?"

Wallace thought for a moment. "Your escape had me curious, but everyone knows that fake uniforms are easy to find and I'm sure you've met people in your line of work that could pull off that kind of operation."

Deeks contemplated his fingernails. "We have some very loyal customers. Sometimes favours are swapped."

"I hope we can be that kind of friends. I think there are more things we can do for each other." Wallace smiled, but Callen was wary of his enthusiasm.

"I'll call in the truck. You brought your own transportation?" Callen wanted to speed things along but still kept an eye on their target as he dialed Sam's number.

Wallace waved a hand towards the open door and a truck came rumbling through. "Right on time."

Callen lifted his phone to his ear and spoke some Russian that the others in the room wouldn't understand, but Sam would translate to "I don't trust these guys, something's up".

"G, do you want me to stay?" came filtering through the phone.

"No, I brought back-up." His eyes slid to the side and he nodded to Deeks who sauntered closer to Wallace.

"Time for us to exchange some money." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and cocked an eyebrow.

Wallace jerked his head at one of the others who opened the back hatch of their SUV. He tugged a rolling suitcase to the edge and opened the top. Callen watched as Deeks went closer, if anything were to happen, it would when he was focussed on the money. His hand twitched as he mentally reviewed the way he'd draw his gun and who would be his first target if need be.

"Greenbacks?" Deeks whistled at the contents of the case. "Where did you find this pile of cash?" He picked up a bundle and leafed through it. "This stack's real."

"It doesn't matter where we got it, you wanted to get paid, here's your money." The lieutenant who had opened the case clenched his jaw.

"Sure I want to get paid, but our normal procedure is to wire the money. How am I going to clean all this cash?"

"This isn't blood money, it was donated to our cause." Clenched-jaw went for pious, but fell into smarmy.

Deeks rubbed his jaw and looked over his shoulder at Callen. They were both thinking the same thing; cash had serial numbers and while the vast majority of the bills would lead nowhere, there might be one or two that could break other cases. Aside from having to haul around the large suitcase containing bundles of hundreds, it was actually a good thing. Outwardly they projected an air of annoyance and inconvenience, but on the inside they were happy. Deeks finally sighed and jerked his head at clenched-jaw. He furrowed his brow and Deeks huffed, "I wanted a wire transfer. If you think I'm hauling that to our trunk, you don't understand what my particular skill set is." Clenched-jaw turned into red-faced-clenched-jaw, but he lifted the case out of the SUV and rolled it over to Callen's trunk. Callen hit the button to open it and they all watched as he, begrudgingly, boosted it into the trunk.

"Good, now that the money's been moved...literally moved," Callen pursed his lips to hold in a smirk, "We can bring in the goods." He lifted the phone up again and blasted out some Russian, this time it translated to what everyone thought it meant: come in.

Sam manoeuvred his truck from where it had been parked just out of sight and into the warehouse. He pointed and parked his truck, and the trailer, towards the door that opened to the road holding Steve and his ATF assault team. The driver for the PRO Americans could take his truck out the other way, but it would require a multiple-point-turn and Callen was just about to pass on a message that would hopefully convince them not to use it.

"Our driver says the construction to the east is too narrow to get the truck through. The workers told him he had to come in from the north." Callen informed them after having a quick exchange with Sam.

The driver for the PRO Americans thought for a moment and Deeks' insides contracted, if he didn't believe them, this could be the end. Then their driver spoke. "I saw that on the way in. Thanks for the heads-up."

Callen, Deeks, Wallace, and his two henchmen stepped off to the side as Sam and the other truck driver did the ballet of removing Sam's truck from the trailer and attaching it to the other. Sam was the first to leave after a pointed look in Callen's direction that was shrugged off. He drove out and would speed onto a side street where he would quickly change into his assault gear and join Steve and Kensi for the attack on the truck. Callen and Deeks shook the hands of their new business partners and offered some platitudes and niceties. The further shipments would be confirmed using text messages, but both Deeks and Callen knew those were just empty promises as, assuming their team members did their jobs, which was a safe bet, the three wouldn't see a cell phone for a long time. Callen and Deeks climbed in their car and drove off through the warehouse complex to the southern-most exit. Their plan was to remove themselves as far as possible from the action to the north. The three lieutenants chose to follow the truck which eased the pressure on the assault team as they no longer had to split their force onto the two roads. Eric passed on the events through the earpieces and Jim organized the teams and moved them around. Callen and Deeks were through the exit when the situation exploded.

* * *

"You will stop...now!" Eric watched the screen and when the moment was right, he hit the button. He and Nell watched as the bomb carefully hidden on the back axle of the trailer exploded and blew out the back of the trailer. The shipping container slammed onto the pavement and brought both the truck and the car carrying the lieutenants to a screeching halt. Small charges detonated along the movable speed bump throwing the heavy rubber into the air. As the smoke cleared the techs surveyed their work.

"It looks just like we wanted it to – revenge of the speed bump." Nell shook her head in awe of destruction laid across the road. "And maybe you should stop watching Italian Job for awhile."

Eric smirked at Nell who squinted at him, but then gave in and smiled. A side-five and Hetty chuckle later, they went back to watching the action on the screen.

* * *

Kensi and Sam moved in unison as they secured the driver of the truck. It wasn't too much of a fight as his hands were already waving in the air in an attempt to clear the smoke. His eyes were wide as his brain tried to process the information being sent to it, but it was no use. One minute he was easing his load over the speed bump and the next, just as he was about to give it some gas, the truck came to a stop for no apparent reason. Obviously the reason had to be tied to the concussive bang that rang out behind him, but he had no time to contemplate its meaning as the next blink changed the scene in front of him from a road milling with construction workers to people with rifles.

Sam barked at the driver who meekly obeyed all the instructions and they had him in the prisoner transport van in no time. The element of surprise confused the driver enough that he put up no resistance. Steve's team attacked with the same speed, precision, and professional excellence and quickly had all three lieutenants out of the car and headed in the same direction. Sam looked for Steve, who had executed his part and was holding onto one specific member, and nodded.

* * *

Steve caught the pre-arranged signal from Sam and he 'accidently' jostled his prisoner – Wallace, that was his name – to get his attention and then spoke into his radio. "We've completed our objective, prepare to move in on the dealers."

A voice squawked out of the radio "Roger."

The plan was that the PRO Americans would get the idea that everyone was arrested, but Wallace had a different idea. He laughed and spat out "You can try to arrest them, but by the time you get into position we will have already served justice to those Cold War hold-overs."

Steve had a decent idea of what their idea of justice was so when he caught Sam's eye and saw that he had heard everything, he wasn't surprised when he slipped away. His eyes tracked him as he jumped into a car with Kensi close behind. "Safe hunting" he whispered under his breath as he pushed his prisoner towards the transport van.

* * *

**A/N: **This chapter could be longer but the blinking cursor was saying "Split me here...it's an awful place to pause the story." So I listened to the evil voice that haunts my computer.


	13. Chapter 13

**Fracture Pattern**

**Disclaimer:** I don't own NCIS:LA or its characters.  
**A/N:** Thanks to SwanQueen4055, ToOldToShip, blue dogs rock, anonkp, jmlane1966, guest m (mwhahahaHAHAHAhaha...maybe I am...), and Yammy1983 for the reviews, they always push me to get these chapters done in a timely manner.

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Callen tried to steer around the car that came to a screeching halt in front of them, but the space was too small. Rather than get the car jammed in the spot and wedge their doors shut, effectively creating a 'shooting fish in a barrel' situation, he stomped on the brakes. Deeks grabbed onto anything solid and yelled as the front end smashed through a newspaper stand before it came to a crunching halt.

Deeks shook the glass out of his hair that broke off of the windshield courtesy of the stand and glared at Callen. "Next time, I drive."

Callen huffed and pulled out his gun. "As if you're any better. Arm thyself, little brother, trouble cometh from the east."

"You have got to stop with ye old English novels." Deeks groaned but ducked as a bullet ripped through the back passenger window. "Slide out and take me with you."

A hard kick punched Callen's door open and he dropped to the ground. Deeks quickly crawled over the console and joined him behind the engine. They peered over the hood at their pursuer who looked to be lining up his next shot.

"How many were in the car?" Callen whispered to Deeks who thought hard and then held up 3 fingers. "Great, out-numbered. Although, if he's busy keeping us pinned down, then it'd be even odds."

"Optimism, that's new." Deeks nodded his approval.

"I'm a realist, and in this situation we have a realistic chance of not dying." Callen grumbled. "You keep an eye on our flanks. I'm going to try and make this guy nervous."

Deeks crouched down and kept his weight on his heel which allowed him to pivot either way quickly. Callen moved along the length of the car and popped up at random spots to take shots at the SUV blocking the gunman. What may have appeared random to anyone else were actually well-placed holes. Callen was trying to puncture the gas tank and then generate a spark from the still-running engine. How possible it was, Deeks didn't know, but until they got some back-up, it was as good as any other strategy. He saw something emerge out of the corner of his eye, but he kept his gaze passing back and forth, it could be a distraction technique.

He was right.

"Left flank!" He shouted over the din of several shots slamming into the hood. He yanked Callen down and fired a few back. Callen took the hint and watched the other side. It grew quiet and they grew nervous.

Callen peeked over at their friend behind the SUV and his eyes grew wide. "Run!" He grabbed Deeks and together they hurled themselves towards a dumpster that was close by.

A blast ricocheted off the walls and blew the two men to the ground. Somehow they hauled each other up and limped behind the dumpster while the fireball covered their movements.

"What was that?" Deeks rubbed his ears, trying to massage some hearing back into them.

"Apparently they have grenades." Callen crawled up to peer over the dumpster.

Deeks bit his lip to stop the retort that threatened to burst out. Instead he looked at their surroundings and sighed. "We are so screwed."

"Why?" Callen asked more out of habit than because he was actually listening, he was trying to find the third gunman.

"Because we're in an alley with no way out and I have no extra clips." Deeks slid the clip out of his gun and counted the bullets. "Anyway, I'll be dead once Hetty sees this shirt."

Callen slid down the side of the dumpster, "Kind of ironic if you think about it, we're two arms dealers with no arms."

"Ha ha. They throw one of those grenades down this alley and we're done."

"Now who's being too pessimistic? Lighten up, we'll get out of here." Callen motioned for Deeks to cover to the left and he would take the right. They eyed their sections as the other side seemed to regroup and set out with a new plan. With itchy trigger fingers and no bullets to waste, they calmed themselves down.

Movement caught Deeks attention and he growled as he sent a double tap at the guy lifting the grenade launcher over their destroyed car. "No you are not!"

"Did you get him?"

Deeks squinted through the smoke. "Maybe a piece of him, but all I think I did was slow him down."

A crack sounded above them and they both instinctively ducked. Gunfire ripped over their heads; clearly their opponents didn't have the same problem with dwindling ammunition. They also appeared to not have a clear target in mind as shot shots ricocheted off the walls around them but others were aimed at the rooftops and windows. A second shot was quickly followed by a third and then an eerie silence spread over the area. After exchanging glances and shrugs, Callen slowly worked his way up and peered around the dumpster, but Deeks was focussed on a figure that climbed down a fire escape and was walking towards them.

"Hey, check it out." Callen stood all the way up and let his gun drop. "Sam's here!"

"You go ahead, I think I'll wait here." Deeks watched as Callen turned to walk towards his partner. He swiveled his head back towards the alley and smiled at the approaching figure.

* * *

Kensi had _run_. Not jogged, not loped, but full out ran from the car. Sam had gotten them as close to the action as he could, but they were still two blocks away. The sniper rifle strapped to her back had slowed her down just a hair, and she was only breathing a bit hard when she finally hauled herself up the stairs and burst out onto the rooftop. The sight of the exploded car had momentarily stopped her heart, but she realized the men wouldn't be shooting at anything if Deeks and Callen were already dead. She found her first target after his attempt to fire a grenade was foiled. He was her first victim. The other two made the mistake of showing themselves as they sprayed ammunition. She took her time and then took them out. Once she was certain there was no one else coming, she hustled to the fire escape and climbed down. She pulled her pistol and made sure everything was clear as she worked her way down the alley towards her partner.

Deeks melted into a puddle of relief when she came up beside him. A half laugh, half cry ripped past the cuts and bruises. He stared up at his partner as she sagged against the building. She stared at his giddiness with disbelief and relief. A smile flew across her face, Deeks was back and she was glad.

"I didn't tell you before because leaving the way we did would make you mad, so mad that you'd be too busy to worry. I figured you'd be mad no matter what we did; I thought it'd be best if it was a productive anger."

Kensi, shocked that Deeks had answered the question she'd wanted a response to for so long, took a moment to process the words. "You engineered it so that I'd be okay?" She stomped her foot, "How do you explain disappearing into the streets?"

Deeks propped himself up and grinned up at Kensi. "Y'know how you're all awesome out in the desert and forests? Replace the trees with buildings and sand and dirt with concrete. The city is my stomping ground. As long as there are back alleyways and a dirty coat, you couldn't find me if you tried." He gave her a dazzling smile and she returned a much smaller, yet still heartfelt one.

"I know." She kicked at the ground. "But I can't back my partner up if I don't know where he is."

"The next time I'm up against an old friend-turned-enemy, you will be my first call. Now help me up." He held up his hand which Kensi grabbed and yanked hard. "A little more energetic than necessary, but thank you. Besides, it was fun watching you take Matty down. He's faced mobsters, DA's, drug lords, and he's caught by a girl...woman...badass NCIS agent."

"Y'know, I kind of like the idea of out-sourcing our raids." Callen sauntered up behind the pair and looked back at Sam who was close behind. "I just talked to Jim and they have everything cleaned up there and he's sent a team to mop up this mess. We got to have all the fun with none of the responsibility."

"G, that's how you always operate. Only this time, _I'm_ not the one cleaning up your mess." Sam rolled his eyes at Callen's innocent smile. "How is Jim?"

"Ecstatic. The agents in the prisoner transport couldn't keep up with all the confessions and accusations once the truck started moving. He's going to get a huge gold star and based on the way he handled today, he deserves it." Callen paused. "Steve said Molly's angry she missed it, she loves a good raid."

A truck pulled up and a group of agents got out. "Agent Callen? Can you give us an idea of what happened here?"

"The dead guy by the light pole mistook this as a demolition derby and tried to ram us which my superb driving skills avoided."

"Then he tried to shoot me" Deeks interjected.

"The two men by the burned up car attempted to flank us."

"One of whom tried to shoot me and Callen."

"Then there was the launched grenade."

"Which almost blew us both up."

"We retreated to behind the dumpster."

"Which they promptly tried to blow up."

"Our teammates got here just in time to take out the three attackers."

"Thus ending the attempted shooting and blowing up of us."

Sam squinted at Deeks. "Why are you so fixated on when and how you were shot at?"

Deeks squared his shoulders. "I am showing just cause for the holes and tears in this shirt. I know Hetty's listening in and I want her to know I did my best not to destroy my clothes."

"You're still going to get stuffed in a closet." Sam poked at Deeks' shoulder while the other two rolled their eyes and huffed. The ATF agent looked confused.

"So...is the money still in the trunk?" The agent didn't really know what was going on, but he needed to know.

"Yes, and by the looks of it, it was in an indestructible case, so it should still be in one piece." Deeks pointed towards the smoking car. "But it's going to take some work to get to it."

The agent found a smile. "We're ATF, sir, we're used to stuff that's been blown up." He jogged away.

"Sir? Did he just call you sir?" Kensi wrinkled her nose.

"Shh...don't ruin the moment." Deeks squeezed her lips shut with his fingers which were quickly slapped away.

"Come on Sam, let's go home." Callen slapped his partner on the back and together they herded the bickering partners towards the car.

* * *

Hetty, hands folded in front of her, was waiting for them as they came through the hallway. "Good to see you all back in one piece. Mr. Deeks, I concede that the damage to your shirt was unavoidable. Could you please remove it and return it to me."

"Thank you Hetty. I did do my best." He spun on his heel to head towards Hetty's clothes closet when she redirected him.

"Oh no, I'm replacing the curtains, there's a door to your left – yes, that one – it's our replacement change room for the time being."

The team watched as he opened the door, walked inside, and was fumbling for the light as the door swung closed on its own. "Hetty...it's dark in here." Deeks felt around but still couldn't find a switch. He heard the quiet _snick_ of a key turning in a lock. "Hetty..." He drew out the name. "Did you just...you just locked me in a closet!" Footsteps moved away and he swore he could hear snorts and giggles. "Guys? Help? What if I have to pee?" He sighed and dropped his head. He could imagine the sly grin splitting Hetty's face. He backed up slightly and found himself leaning against something soft and bed-like. "Hmm, might as well make the best of it."

And that's where they found him ten minutes later when Callen picked the lock: fast asleep, one pillow under his head and hugging another.

"He looks so harmless when he's sleeping" Kensi whispered.

"Then let's leave him that way, it's safer." Sam herded everyone out of the room again and softly closed the door with a gentle smile flickering across his lips. "Sleep well," he whispered to the door.

_Fin_


End file.
